Community Builders during COVID-19: Stay Strong Succulents

Over three days, nine volunteers spent approximately 40 person-hours deliver 350 hens and chicks from the Aspen Ridge Greenhouse to the residents in Jubilee Landing Residents Association (the ‘RA’).  

“You definitely brightened my day, what a nice surprise” and “you made my day … love the plants” are some of the sentiments shared with Marg Chaba and Denise Beaudry of the Jubilee Landing, as they recently delivered succulents to fellow community members. 

Funded through a COVID-19 Community Connection Grant, Marg, Denise and their colleagues were able to purchase 350 hens and chicks from the Aspen Ridge Greenhouse. These succulents were then lovingly wrapped with cellophane and affixed with a tag by an RA volunteer that read like this:  

Stay Strong! 

Succulents offer us a positive example of flourishing in very difficult  

circumstances, reminding us that we are stronger than we realize  

and even the most arduous situation is not the end of the line. 

Marg told us “[w]e knocked on every door and made face to face contact, at a safe distance, with 290 of our residences” and also noted “[I]t was heart-warming for all of us to be able to say hello and enjoy the smiles and gratitude of our neighbours.” Residents told RA volunteers “How nice! My wife always had "Hens & Chicks", I will plant it in my flower bed. You made my day.” Denise told us some residents were moved to tears. One resident saying “I lost a good friend today, thank you, you just brightened my day with this plant.” 

When we asked Denise why she and the RA wanted to do this plant delivery, she said “we felt people were isolated for so long” and it was also a way for her and the volunteers to find connection, too. 

To learn more about accessing grant monies to foster connections in your neighbourhood, check out our COVID-19 Community Connection Grants page.